In a typical cockpit assembly for a motor vehicle, a metal cross-car beam is augmented with a plurality of structural extensions for supporting various functional devices within the cockpit assembly. Such functional devices in the cockpit assembly include center stack devices (i.e., informational, communication or entertainment devices), HVAC devices and related air handling structures, wire harnesses, airbags, an instrument cluster, glove boxes and the like. The structural support for such devices is provided by various metal extensions such as brackets, rods and other add-on structures which are used to mount these devices in the cockpit assembly. The cockpit assembly is closed off to the passenger compartment by an instrument panel. The panel is typically constructed of a soft and ductile plastic.
In today's electronic age, increasing numbers of electronic devices are desired in the cockpit or adjacent areas of the vehicle. Thus, these cockpit assemblies are subjected to often conflicting requirements. For example, it is desirable that the cockpit structure is lightweight and low-cost, while at the same time the structure must be robust enough and feature integral so that increasing numbers of electronics and other devices may be provided within the cockpit assembly. Current cockpit structures are physically and mechanically limited such that they meet only a certain subset of the expected requirements successfully.
Accordingly, there exists a need to provide a cockpit assembly which is lightweight and low cost while also sufficiently robust and feature integral to meet to the increasing demands for integrated devices.